Gundam Seed Ultimate Destiny
by cyberdemon
Summary: Chapter 1 revised! 3 years since the second war, peace was gained. However when a new group turns up threatening the peave will Kira and Lacus be able to stop them or will Kira finally be in over his head because of these new foes. K/L
1. Phase 1: A Fragile Peace

Phase 1: Fragile Peace

Lacus groaned as she tried her best to sort out of the voices around her and try to make some sense as to what each and every one of them were saying.

She heard bits about economic issues, and more stuff on peace talks. However, that was all she could make out since so any people were talking all at once.

Her eyes quickly shot towards her bodyguard who was walking by her side. He however averted his eyes obviously trying to avoid getting involved in any of the politics that were going on.

Kira Yamato and politics didn't match too well. He was a top class mobile suit pilot though perhaps even the best that there ever was. This however was kept secret since there were some who had an issue with the Freedom.

'Traitor,' Lacus mentally said as she shot Kira a look that made him squirm a little. A moment later it was gone and instead replaced by a smile which made the young man next to her breathe a sigh of relief.

It wasn't until they reached her office that the crowds started to disperse and Lacus was able to breathe her own sigh of relief.

"It's so tiring being a chairman of the PLANTs," Lacus said as she collapsed into her seat and laid her head back so that she stared at the ceiling.

"You're the one that agreed to their request. You knew what that was going to entail," Kira said as he sat in a seat across from her.

"If it's any consolation, you're doing a great job. Hopefully with you here there won't be any more wars," he said giving her a smile that eased her tension a little bit.

"I would prefer if they didn't have to rely on me. I would've loved to just be at that house looking after those orphans like we used to do," Lacus said dreamily as she remembered the life that they had between the two wars.

"And leave things as they were. War would just start up again. There's even more at stake for us right now," he said the last part quietly but Lacus nodded her head with a gentle smile.

"Well with you here, sooner or later peace will last and we can go back there," he consoled her earning him a smile which gave him a lot more energy to get through the day.

"I know. I don't regret taking the job. I just prefer that old life back in ORB," she responded while thinking about all those kids they took care of.

She picked up a pen to fill out some papers but there was a knock on the door before she had the chance to do so. "Come in," Lacus called out to the person at the door.

Kira stood up from his seat but rolled his eyes when he saw who it was.

"Well I see you're as busy as usual," a young man said as he walked into the room.

He was a man that was no older than Kira or Lacus and also happened to be a council member as well.

Lacus had once told Kira that she had known the man since they were children. Kira made it pretty clear to her that he didn't like the guy though.

"I'm beginning to wonder if they chose me just so that I'd do all the paperwork for them," Lacus grumbled as she stamped one and moved it to the side before grabbing another to look over.

"Is there something you need chairman Evans?" Lacus formally asked not taking her eyes away from the papers.

"You know me much better than that Lacus. Just call me James," the man said with a smile while leaning against her desk. "We've known each other for a while so it's fine to do so," he said with a flirty smile.

"What is it you need Chairman Evans. I am extremely busy right now," Lacus muttered rubbing her head where a headache was forming.

"Very well," he muttered obviously very disappointed that what he did wasn't working.

"There is something I need to talk to you about Lacus…" he started before looking at Kira, "Alone."

"If there is something that you need to speak to Lacus about then you can say it front of me," Kira said sternly as he faced the man with a worried face. He really didn't like the idea of leaving this guy and Lacus alone.

"That is Chairwoman Clyne to you Yamato. She is your employer and you shall treat her with respect in a way that is befitting of your position," the man sternly responded with an air of superiority that seemed to enjoy flaunting his position.

"Besides, this is important business. I know you enjoy being her little dog but for someone who got such an important position as her bodyguard with no proper experience, you really should just back off," James continued while looking at Kira with emotionless eyes.

"It doesn't matter to me what Kira calls me Chairman Evans," Lacus responded not wanting the two of them to fight.

Kira flirted with the idea of mentioning that he was the pilot of the Freedom to the man to see how he would react but he held himself back for the sake of Lacus.

She saw that he was about to argue though so she cut in. "By the way Kira, didn't you have some business with Yzak?" she asked hoping to separate the two of them quickly.

'Not exactly like I had a choice in that matter,' Kira grumbled in his mind while he nodded.

"Then I guess I should be on my way," he regretfully responded. "If you need me just give me a call," he said before he bowed and left the room.

James Evans watched as Kira left with a bit of contempt.

"This isn't what I came to talk about but please consider this Lacus. Replace Yamato," he stated quite angrily.

This wasn't the first time Lacus had heard of this and not just from him. A stipulation for her joining the counsel was that no one was to know about Kira's abilities or connection to her other than as a bodyguard since there were unfortunately many political issues that came with it.

"He just showed up out of nowhere and I don't trust him. I mean I can't even find any information on him besides basic stuff. Not to mention that he seems to lack any respect for authority. I know you don't mind but think of your position. This could cause problems in the future and I just want to stop such troubles from happening," he continued to rant until he took a deep breath when he finished.

Lacus couldn't help but laugh a little as she toyed with something hidden beneath her blouse. "There is nothing to worry about. I fully trust him. I assure you that he isn't going to be a problem," she said as she stood up.

"You may trust him but I don't. I feel that he may be planning something and I'm just worried for your safety," he said looking at her gently.

Lacus suddenly started laughing in response which just annoyed him more. "What could possibly be so funny about something so serious?" he yelled in annoyance.

"You're just too serious. Kira would never try something," Lacus said a bit amused with the way James saw Kira. "Now we should get to business," Lacus said and watched as the man growled and took a seat across from her.

* * *

"Just who the hell's idea was it for you to tag along with me for this!?" Yzak screamed as he stormed along the hallways with Kira following along.

"Couldn't they have sent someone else? Anyone but you?" he growled. Sure he'd gotten to the point where he could put the past behind him but that didn't mean that he was best friends with Kira.

"Lacus simply thought that it would be a good experience for me. She just thought it would be good for me if I got a better look around the ZAFT military and gained a better understanding of it," an amused Kira said as he easily kept up with the annoyed ZAFT commander.

"And that's another thing. Not only am I babysitting you but now I have to babysit a bunch of newbie's as well. I am a captain of a warship! Not a freaking teacher!" he growled out while getting right up in Kira's face.

"It's simulation battle. They must've thought someone of your experience would be best for teaching it so that they won't go out ill prepared," Kira reasoned hoping to calm the temperamental man down.

"Well then I guess they did make a good choice for that," Yzak suddenly said proudly before shaking it off knowing he was only being praised for the sake of calming down.

"Why not just send only you then?! I mean you're the pilot of the freaking…" Yzak started before screaming out loud when Kira slammed his foot down on Yzak's as a few instructors came walking by.

'Oh yeah, they aren't supposed to let anyone know,' he thought while glaring at Kira wishing all the world's tortures on him.

The two then walked calmly until they reached a room. Yzak composed himself as he walked into the room and the rowdy students settled down at once.

"I have been asked to be the supervisor for you simulation training for today so I want all to follow my every command," Yzak said sternly while glaring at the class.

"Wow, we get Commander Joule to help us?" a small roar resounded throughout the room.

"Awesome, not only was he a survivor of the both Bloody Valentine wars but also piloted one of the original g-units," another student continued to say.

Kira couldn't help but be amused with how proud Yzak looked as they complimented him.

'So temperamental and serious but is very boastful when people point out his achievements,' he thought with a small laugh while ignoring the few stares directed at him since he was used to them by now.

"Who's that? He wears a white suit but I don't remember seeing him from anywhere before," a male student said out loud while looking at Kira.

The statement was being mimicked by the rest of the students soon afterwards.

"Don't you know? He is said to be the personal bodyguard of THE lacus Clyne. It caused quite a stir when she turned up with some no name in tow," a female student responded.

"But she has good tastes. I mean he is pretty hot," another girl said dreamily which was also mimicked by several other female students.

"WHAT?! Some no name guy like that gets to be Lacus Clyne's bodyguard?!" a particularly loud student screamed out upon hearing that. "Look at him. He looks so weak. I bet you I can beat him at the simulations!" the boy boasted.

Kira looked particularly annoyed with the boy's statement while Yzak looked particularly amused.

"Sounded like a challenge. Why not take it unless you are afraid of losing. After all, you could be useless without THAT," Yzak taunted with a big grin spread across his face.

"Then again, being the top of this class. I bet you that I could even defeat Commander Joule," the boy cockily continued which effectively wiped the grin off of Yzak's face.

"I hereby challenge both of you. I will prove that I am way too good for this academy," he cockily announced with an annoying laugh much to the instructor's and student's annoyance.

Yzak looked at a list and found the name of the student that was so boastful. "Well then Mr. Daniel Frost. Why don't we use you as a guin … out first example?" Yzak said trying to keep a smile on his face when all he wanted was to beat the living shit out of the kid.

"Now, now Yzak, calm down," Kira said though the boys boastful taunts were grating on his nerves as well. "Just beat the guy in the simulation and get it over with," he said with a twitching eyebrow.

Yzak growled as he looked over some of the records that were in front of him. 'Daniel Frost, an immigrant to the PLANTs at the end of the second war,' he look over the data in front of him.

Looking over the data in front of his, Yzak scowled.

'He's loud and annoying but he's definitely good. He's broken several records already and he's only been in the academy a short time,' he couldn't help but think while looking at the kid who was only two years younger than him and Kira.

"Very well, I'll be sure to put you in your place," Yzak cockily replied as he headed to the simulation machines.

The boy grinned as he hopped out of his seat and raced down to the machines.

"When I beat you I will prove that there is no one that can defeat me," he boldly stated while taking a seat in the machine.

'It's been so boring since I got here anyways, this ought to spice things up a bit,' he thought as the machine closed up and he found himself in a replica of a mobile suit's cockpit. The screen in front of him lit up to show an almost realistic looking outer space.

"We'll both be using a GINN mobile suit so that we are on equal ground tech-wise," Yzak voice resounded through the simulation chamber.

"The winner is the first to destroy the other person's mobile suit," Yzak continued laying down the ground rules for the simulation battles for everyone to hear.

"Fine by me. You could use a gundam for all I care and I would still beat you down," the boy responded only annoying Yzak and the entire class even more.

Everyone was really feeling the headache come on from the cockiness levels the boy was giving off.

Kira himself felt his face stiffen at the mention of the word Gundam. That wasn't a words really used outside his group so he wondered where this boy picked it up. He'd never really heard it elsewhere.

"This is why I hate kids," Yzak growled out through gritted teeth while the machines hummed as the systems in it loaded up. 'I just have to finish this quickly then I will hear the end of his annoying arrogance,' he thought as he set in the required data.

'Those two are too much alike,' Kira thought as a chuckle escaped from his mouth. He then watched as a small countdown was made and the two quickly got to work of trying to chop the other into pieces.

'Considering that he is a student, there shouldn't be too much of a match. However… I have a strange feeling here. Something doesn't feel right,' Kira thought watching the screen in front of the class.

The screen showed every move that the two made as if a real match was going on and they were just watching it on TV.

The battle had been going on for a minute or so and Kira kept an extra close eye on each of their moves.

'This kid is too good for a student. It's like he has years of real battle experience. His moves are too quick and he has little to no excess movements. If this goes on…' he thought but was interrupted when there was a loud buzzing signaling an end to the battle.

There was quite a stir in the room as people looked at the monitor and saw the results.

Yzak had lost. The loud arrogant cheering of Daniel Frost was more than enough of an indicator that the machine wasn't wrong and Yzak really had lost.

"How was that?! I guess you're not all that you were made out to be! You were just going up against naturals after all. How could you possibly be as good as the rumors said," Daniel gloated as his ego swelled more and more with his victory.

"That's… impossible," Yzak said as he just sat in the simulator in utter disbelief.

'How could I have lost? I didn't hold back at all either. I used everything I had to finish it quickly,' he thought never having felt so humiliated since Kira first defeated him. That news also came as an even worse blow when he learned that even Kira was actually a civilian with no real piloting training before then as well.

Kira stared at the boy who was hopping around in joy. The feeling of unease was still rippling through him and he wasn't sure exactly why that was happening.

'Maybe I should fight him in this thing. It might give me a better idea as to what this feeling I am having is,' he thought as he walked over and placed a hand on Yzak's shoulder.

"Move," he ordered and Yzak was unnaturally compliant when he got off the seat.

Daniel saw Kira take a seat in the machine and let off a small smirk. "So that's how it is going to be. Looks like this is going to be interesting," he muttered to himself as he popped back into the machine as it booted back up to the same settings.

"Since I am sure everyone else will want a try today. Let's put a time limit on the match," Kira suggested while quickly modifying the settings. "Besides that it will be the same as before," Kira said as the program started up.

Everyone in the room watched the screen in excitement after the excitement that was the previous battle.

Over all though they didn't appear to be too impressed with what they saw in the first minute. It was more akin to wildly swinging weapons than a proper trained fight.

'What the! This isn't Kira's normal style of fighting. Sure he could get rid of that whole no kill shit since this is just a game but he doesn't seem to be doing that or fighting his normal way,' Yzak thought as he watched in confusion.

Kira seemed to strike randomly and then pull away quickly which was even stranger since he always just moved in at the opponent quickly for quick strikes with the sword.

Inside the simulation cockpit Kira continued what he doing as the time was drained down. 'Guess that didn't work. Then how about this,' he thought as he tried what he made seem like a regular feint attack.

The mobile suit showed on the screen looked like he was going to block the feint only to change before Kira could react and blocked the real attack. Kira then quickly pulled back to try out his next test.

'This is boring,' Daniel thought since to him Kira was doing nothing but running away and then attacking. It was making it impossible to get a proper hit off which was draining the clock more and more.

As expected, the time ran out before a winner could be declared but something in Daniel told him that was the real reason for making it a timed match.

'Could he merely have been gauging my skills rather than fighting?' he thought as they exited the machines and he started to talk with some of the students.

"What was that Yamato? You seemed like a total amateur in there. Why not use some of your normal quick moves you usually use and just get it over with?" Yzak asked quietly as Kira walked over and took a seat.

"I just didn't want anyone to recognize my movements. Both Lacus and I don't want and aren't supposed to let people to find out who I am after all," Kira lied since his attacks were merely tests the opponent.

'He has quick maneuvers and is quite obviously trained in mobile suit combat,' he thought to himself as him and Yzak just watched some of the other students get in and have mock battles.

Unknown to the both of them, Daniel snuck out of the room with a yawn.

He walked away from the room but came to a quick stopped when he realized that someone else was there. "What is it you want?" he asked rudely to the familiar person.

"Oh nothing. I was just curious about your thoughts on the battle," the man said as he hid in the shadows so as not to be seen by some of the people that were randomly passing by the scene whether they were teachers or students.

"Yzak Joule is nothing special. He won't be any trouble for us. Kira Yamato on the other hand I don't know. He did nothing but try to test my reaction time," Daniel reported exactly what he had been told to do before the class.

"So you have nothing on him. Looks like we'll have to try something else to judge the full scale of his abilities," The man in the shadows said before he disappeared and it became eerily quiet like the man hadn't even been there.

* * *

"Now that we worked out the details on the new proposal, I have the paperwork for what we discussed last week ready to be signed," James said as he handed Lacus a small portfolio which she took and ready over.

Lacus's eyes swiftly moved across the paper making sure that everything that was put down was as they discussed it.

She wasn't even listening as James talked in the background about stuff she was sure probably didn't matter.

When Lacus was sure that everything was in order she neatly scribbled down her signature onto the paper and handed it back to the man before her. "Is that everything you needed?" she asked as James looked over and made sure every signature was there.

"Yes. There are a few things I wish to discuss with you but they can wait until later," James said with a smile.

"Well, then I look forward to seeing you again tomorrow," he continued as he turned and slowly left the office.

A sigh escaped Lacus's mouth at the relief that all the immediate paperwork was done and that she could relax for a while.

'I just want to get home and back to you,' Lacus thought with a pout as she opened a desk drawer and looked at an object that was inside. She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face as she looked at it.

Another knock on the door made her quickly slam the drawer shut and straighten herself up in her chair.

"Come in," Lacus said when everything was in order and watched as the door opened.

A smile crossed her face when she saw that it was Kira returning.

She giggled when he looked around. "Don't worry, he left a few minutes ago," she said and saw him sigh in relief.

"That's good. I'm tired and didn't want to get into another argument with that man," Kira said as he walked over and took his regular seat close to Lacus.

"He go on another rant on getting rid of me again?" he asked and sighed as Lacus nodded her head.

"It would be so easy to just tell people who you are but this would likely just bring up even more problems as well," Lacus said with a sigh from all the stress it was to keep quiet. "I really hate hiding everything," she said quietly while laying her head down on her desk.

"I really don't mind hiding my identity. I hate the spotlight. People just ignore me since they don't know me except for the usual questions I get," Kira responded trying to look on the bright side of things.

"It's not just that," Lacus murmured so softly that Kira almost didn't hear.

Then suddenly her head shot right with a bright smile. "I know something that will make things all better," she said with a big grin on her face.

"We can't leave yet," Kira said immediately shooting down the idea he knew was floating round her head. "You do have that important meeting in an hour and there'd be no way to get back on time if you left," Kira continued calmly.

"After that we need to meet Athrun at the spaceport as well. Which means we'll be pretty busy for the next few hours," he continued since he memorized their schedule for the day.

A crestfallen Lacus once again laid her head back down on the desk in defeat.

"Why'd you have to remind me," Lacus said with a pout like that of a child who didn't get the toy that they really wanted.

She knew what they had to do. She was just hoping there was a way out of at least the meeting that she had to go to.

Kira couldn't help but chuckle.

Having been raised and taught by her father in the ways of politics from a very early age, Lacus was very good at what she did. She'd always put on a proper face when at work.

Yet when no one else was around she still had that childish attitude that she had when he had first met her.

"Oh come on, no need to be such a child. You only have to wait a few more hours. I wish that we could as well but there's nothing that I could do about it," Kira said as she glared at him as if it was all his fault.

'She really does get so childish when she gets that plan in her mind,' he thought thinking of a countermeasure for the situation.

"How about we go out and get something to eat, my treat," he said and the growl he then heard come from Lacus's stomach was all the assurance he needed to know that it would work.

"Come on, you can choose where to go," he said and Lacus nodded as they both stood up and left.

* * *

A twenty-one year old man looked out into the depth of space through a small window with his brilliant green eyes from the shuttle he was taking to the PLANTS. 'Things have changed for the better these last three years,' he thought with a smile.

'Used to be that you could never look out into space without seeing the lights of some kind of battle. Now it is just as peaceful as when man first went into space,' Athrun Zala thought with a relieved sigh.

It wasn't like the false peace from after the first war. People were truly tired of fighting.

Even Blue Cosmos members had been relatively silent. 'Likely just biding their time though till they regain strength,' he thought bitterly since they were to blame for all the wars that occurred and escalating them to levels that they didn't need to go to.

'Thanks to the efforts of Cagalli and Lacus, this might just be a lasting peace. I just hope that no one tries to spoil it,' he thought knowing that the world was in good hands with those two directing things as they were.

Without the interference from the Seiran family like before the second war, Cagalli had truly become a good leader in her own right.

ORB was rebuilt immediately following the second war and with the help of the PLANTs started to thrive as they did in the days of Uzume Nara Attha.

The PLANTs took longer to rebuild after what happened to them when the Requiem was fired. The first two years were the most difficult but recently Lacus finally agreed to taking on the position of supreme chairman.

For the first six months after the second war Lacus acted as a mediator between the three major powers; the PLANTs, ORB, and the Earth Alliance.

Then for 2 years she just disappeared back into her quiet life.

From what he knew, the PLANT supreme council had contacted her for that entire time hoping to give her a position on the supreme council.

It wasn't for another two years before circumstances took their toll and Lacus finally agreed to the offer, though very reluctantly.

As for himself, he stayed in ORB as one of its military leaders. This allowed him to stay near Cagalli and help to prevent another disaster like what the Seiran's tried to do.

For a while it was hard considering their past but they were able to put it behind them and work together as just friends.

"It's so good to be home again," a voice next to Athrun said as a body reached over so that the person could get a proper look out the window.

Red hair pulled up into two ponytails on both sides fell before his face while she stared happily out the window at the view of her homeland.

When he had decided to stay in ORB, Meyrin Hawke stayed with him though she also acted as a mediator between her and Cagalli when needed.

It made him feel sad though that she was doing all this for him. She gave up on ZAFT; she gave up on the PLANTs; all so that she could be with him.

"Glad that you're so happy," Athrun said with a chuckle as their shuttle was preparing for entry into the port.

When Meyrin had heard that he was going to visit the PLANTs to see Kira and Lacus, she had absolutely insisted on coming along for many reasons.

"I can't wait to see my sister. Shinn and her are supposed to be getting married soon. I'm glad that they were even allowed with all the laws. She always seems so happy when she is with Shinn," Meyrin said getting back into her seat and fastening the buckles back up.

"I can't wait to see Kira and Lacus too, as well as…" she said but was cut off in the middle by the pilot giving entry warnings to the passengers.

The shuttle docked a few minutes after that. Athrun was glad when he finally stood up and could properly stretch out.

"Finally," he said as himself as him and Meyrin grabbed their things and made their way to the exit.

Outside the gate, Kira and Lacus were eagerly awaiting for Athrun to come out of the gate unaware that Meyrin had tagged along with him.

"Oh, there he is," Lacus said happy to see one of her oldest friends come out of the gate. "Oh! Meyrin came too," she continued happy to see the red head as well.

They had become pretty good friend near the end of the war and afterwards so she was glad to see her as well.

"Hey. You two are looking good," Athrun happily greeted his best friend as he gave Lacus a small hug and Kira a brotherly hug.

Meyrin also gave Lacus a hug as well while Kira took some of their bags into his hands.

"Come on, Waltfeld is waiting at the car. I'm sure the both are you are tired and eager for rest after the long flight," Lacus said as she ushered the two of them along quickly as she was in a hurry to get going as well.

Meyrin and Lacus walked ahead of the two males talking happily to one another while Kira and Athrun stayed behind having their own discussion.

"Nice to see that it is as peaceful on the inside as on the outside," Athrun said looking up into the artificial blue sky.

"It hasn't been easy but Lacus is doing her best to make sure things stay like this," Kira said looking up into the same sky.

"How's Cagalli doing? I haven't been able to talk to her for a few weeks," Kira inquired about his twin sister who like him and Lacus was trying her hardest to keep things moving smoothly during this peace.

"She's as busy as always. Says that she wishes that she could come but there is a major bill going through that is gonna take too much time," Athrun explained and Kira just nodded his head in understanding.

"Other than that, she will be down in a week or so for that big meeting though," Athrun continued to explain.

Kira already knew since it was a major meeting between the EA, ZAFT, and ORB.

"Good to know that she's at least keeping busy," Kira said with a chuckle as Andrew Waltfeld pulled the car up in front of the four of them.

The four of them got into the car and it quickly pulled away from the onlookers trying to get photos of the famous Lacus Clyne.

The drive was quiet. Meyrin looked ready to doze off. Athrun looked around and his eyes fell upon Kira and Lacus.

They looked so peaceful as they sat there with Lacus's head laid down upon Kira's right shoulder.

Their hands connected as a small golden band glistened off Lacus's left hand. Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne or rather now she was known as Lacus Clyne Yamato.


	2. Phase 2: Desires

Phase 2: Desires

"You sure we got the right coordinates?" Shinn Asuka asked from the bridge of the reconstructed Minerva.

His eyes surveyed the surrounding to the ship and yet he didn't see whatever it was that they were supposed to be looking for.

"I've looked over the data and this is indeed the correct spot," Arthur Trine said from his seat in the captain's chair.

After the death of Talia Gladys, he was placed in charge of the Minerva when it was repaired after its fateful battle with the Archangel.

"We've been receiving strange signals from this sector of space from time to time and were ordered to check on it," Arthur continued reading through the orders again.

"There's nothing here though," Shinn said in confusion. "It's possible it was just a computer glitch," he continued while his eyes darted all over the screen to see if there was something he was missing.

When nothing changed Shinn decided to just check for himself. "I'm gonna go out in the destiny and have a look around," he said as he turned and walked off the bridge.

As he walked into the hanger, Shinn looked up at the Destiny Gundam.

It looked brand new after its repairs. That was mostly because the world they were living in currently saw little use for it.

'I just hope it stays that way. Doubt it will forever as long as people like blue cosmos still live in it,' he thought bitterly as he climbed into the cockpit.

'I just hope this is nothing but I have a bad feeling,' he thought as the Destiny was loaded onto the catapult deck.

"This is Shinn Asuka. Destiny Launching!" he said before a jolt hit him as the destiny was launched forward and out into space.

As he looked around he couldn't see anything different from what he saw on the monitors on the ship.

"I guess it must've been malfunctioning equipment after all," he said taking another sweep around the place to make sure but there really was nothing there.

"Guess I'll head back," Shinn said as he turned the Destiny around.

However at that exact moment his sensors suddenly blared. This was only for a second before it turned off but it was enough to put him on alert.

"This is Shinn Asuka; did the Minerva also pick up on something?" Shinn asked the ship to verify.

"We have but lost the signal immediately afterwards. Shinn…" Arthur started to say but the signal suddenly went completely dead before he could finish.

"Minerva? Minerva?!" Shinn yelled trying to restore the signal he had just lost.

"Better get back immediately," he said as the bad feeling he had been having started to come back.

He sped the Destiny as fast as he could back in the direction of the Minerva.

"Damn it! I went too far off," he cursed as he sped back and panicked when he saw lights in the distance.

By the time he managed to return to the ship things took a turn for the worse.

"This can't be," he said in shock as he looked over the now heavily damaged ship.

"I was only gone for a short time, how could anyone do this much damage in that time," he said in panic as he messed with the communication controls to get some kind of signal going. "Minerva? Minerva?!" he yelled out.

"Sh… Shinn," Arthur's voice came out through the weak signal which was enough for Shinn to breathe a slight sigh of relief.

"The… is highly damaged… most of… systems down," Shinn managed to make out over the heavy static. "Beware… white…" he said but the signal was completely lost again.

"What about the crew? Is everyone ok?" Shinn screamed into the communicator but received no reply in return.

"Damn it!" he screamed since he couldn't go in and help with the catapult deck currently unable to be opened with all the systems down.

It was then that his sensors blared again which put Shinn on alert knowing that there was something out there now. "Where are you?" he growled but didn't see anything. "Come out!" he screamed out in anger.

The Destiny was suddenly hit with a massive force. After regaining its balance, Shinn turned but saw nothing. This was a mistake as a ghostly figure appeared from behind Shinn which he didn't notice until it was too late.

* * *

Lacus Clyne was not very pleased right then. She had just about made it home, a place that must be calling out to her right then, when she was suddenly called back to work for an emergency situation.

'They had better have a good excuse,' she thought with annoyance clear on her face.

Kira couldn't help but chuckle slightly with how childish his wife was acting. "If it's an emergency then there is nothing that you can do," he said only to earn a glare from her which made him shut up.

Sometimes Kira couldn't believe how much Lacus had changed since he married her. He had to admit that he liked how she had such a childish side to her. He liked her no matter what but this added a new side to her that he couldn't help but love her more for.

By the time that the two of them got to where they were supposed to go Lacus had composed herself so that she was the normal proper Lacus Clyne.

'At least she shows her true side to only me,' Kira thought with another chuckle as they entered the room.

Most of the supreme council members were already there and waiting for her when Lacus entered the room.

'Why are so many supreme council members here? What kind of situation are we having?' Lacus asked herself as she looked around at everyone.

She noticed Kira take a spot off to the side so that he wasn't in the way and the chatter of the other members died down upon noticing that she was there.

"Oh there you are Lacus," James said happily as he walked towards her showing obvious intent at his plan to give her a hug.

Unfortunately for him, Lacus just dodged him and walked forward to where all the others were. "Right, now is not the time," he said trying to save face.

"Sorry to call you in on such short notice Chairwoman Clyne," one of the other chairmen said ignoring James's display of stupidity.

"It's fine." Lacus lied with such a straight face. "So what is the problem for all of us to gather together like this on such short notice?" she got straight to the point.

"Several days ago we had sent the Minerva out to check on strange signals that we had been getting as of late," an older council member said while signaling a servant.

A short mission briefing was placed before Lacus. She picked it up and flipped through the pages to get an idea of what they were talking about better.

"Did they find anything?" she asked not taking her eyes of the briefing.

"All communications with the ship had suddenly ceased not too long ago but not before a distress beacon was sent out," the man said seriously as he typed in a few things on a computer before him.

"We had another ship in the area and they sent these back to us when they reached the ship," another councilman continued as a screen popped up.

What was showing on the screen was the extremely damaged Minerva. It showed a few pictures at different angles allowing each of the supreme council members to get a good idea at what the damage was like.

The pictures of the Minerva were then replaced by something that shocked Kira and Lacus more.

It was a picture of the Destiny… or at least that's what they thought it was. The suit was terribly mangled. Both arms and legs of the suit were horribly torn off. The wings, the signature of the Destiny, we totaled. One wing was sliced completely in half. The other wing was completely missing from the once proud gundam. The head piece was missing and there was also a large gash right in front of the cockpit.

Kira especially was startled at the picture of the Destiny. From firsthand experience he knew that Shinn was a great pilot and that the Destiny was also a great mobile suit. The fact that Shinn was beaten so badly made even him feel a shiver run through his spine.

"What about the crew of the Minerva and the pilot of the Destiny?" Lacus asked quickly after seeing the look of shock on Kira's face. "Is there any news on them?" she quickly asked again before anyone could answer.

"For the most part the crew of the Minerva managed to survive. There were a few causalities but not as many as you would expect from this kind of damage. From their testimony, it appears that the attack happened too quickly and that it was over before they were even able to put up a proper defense," a female member said grimly.

"They've all been evacuated onto the other ship and on their way back but…" another continued before pausing.

"The pilot of the Destiny however is in bad shape. Due to the damage the suit took, he nearly ran out of oxygen. He's also sustained some serious wounds as a result of damage to the cockpit. He's lucky to be alive but has yet to regain consciousness," another continued in a darkening voice.

"Oh my god," Lacus said as her hand went to her mouth in shock. "What are… what are the chances of…?" Lacus started to ask but was having trouble finishing it. Shinn had actually become a good friend to her, though he was still pretty competitive when it came to Kira.

"We don't know yet. He's undergone emergency surgery on the ship and is being rushed back ahead of the others. It could go either way right now. We won't know till a doctor in the PLANTs can look at him," a councilwoman said before taking a deep breath. "Our main concern right now should be to find the cause of the attack," she continued not trying to sound heartless but it was an important issue they needed to deal with.

"Isn't it obvious? It has to be Blue Cosmos!" One of the more elderly men in the room said angrily. "Who else is capable of making such a vicious attack on an unsuspecting victim?!" he yelled angrily.

"With the state of Blue Cosmos at the moment, I doubt they would have the means to. A lot of their financial support was cut off as a result of the destruction of Logos. They wouldn't have the means to make such a monster that it could do something like this so quickly," another member who was an older lady spoke up.

"Then the Earth Alliance must be helping them again. It sure wouldn't be a first time they had," the man continued on showing that he was obviously an extremist like Patrick Zala. "They obviously just want to start another war!" he yelled angrily.

"Let's not jump to conclusions just yet," Lacus spoke up calming to the group who were about ready to get into an intense argument. "We shouldn't make any rash decisions until we're sure that it even was them," Lacus continued though even she was worried that they might have reorganized and were planning to attack them again. "For now let's focus on tightening up our defenses just in case. I will talk to Head Representative Attha of ORB. Their intelligence networks should give us a better understanding of the situation on Earth," Lacus calmly said.

It took several hours of discussion after that before a proper plan was drafted as to how to go about the situation that they were currently in. Lacus was all too happy when they were finally able to leave.

"Sorry that took so long," Lacus said in a tired voice as her and Kira left the conference room.

"It's fine. This is an emergency anyways. Shinn is a survivor so I know he'll be fine but this is serious," Kira responded calmly though Lacus could notice the hint of anger hidden in his voice.

"It so late, doesn't look like I'm going to have any time for it tonight," she said looking at her watch and seeing that it was close to 10pm PLANT time.

"This situation definitely takes priority though. We had to sacrifice a lot to make sure that the peace so many died for remains. I feel that Blue Cosmos isn't behind this though. I don't know why. For all we know it could be something worse than them," Kira responded quietly as something was nagging him about his feeling.

"I feel that way as well," Lacus responded back with worry. "I don't want another war. We sacrificed a lot by taking on this position to prevent that from happening. I just hope it wasn't for nothing," she said sadly while staring at the floor rather than ahead of her.

"I'm sure it won't be for nothing. Even if war does happen again I'm sure that with you in charge that we'll find a way to end it before things get too out of control," Kira said trying to think brightly to cheer his wife up a bit.

"Yeah…" Lacus said but was interrupted by James Evans turning up.

He simply walked up to them without trying anything. "Is there anything else Chairman Evans?" Lacus properly asked and noticed the irritation on his face at being referred to like that by her.

"I keep telling you that you don't have to call me by that," James said while trying to keep on a smile.

"The point," Lacus said so deadly seriously since she was tired and just wanted to leave and go home.

"Right!" James responded noticing the tone he had dreaded hearing from her for years.

"Tomorrow I have to discuss something with you of dire importance," James started off turning his smile into a serious look.

Kira scowled at the man knowing exactly what was coming next.

"If it is ok with you maybe we can have some dinner tomorrow night while we discuss it," he said trying to sound business like but sounding too eager for his own good.

"If it is of dire importance than why not just say it now?" Lacus reasoned out which seemed to confuse James. "Well?" she questioned to try and speed it along.

"It not something I can talk about with people like him here. It really is important though so this needs to be done soon," James said casting Kira a short glare who was completely unaffected by the look.

Lacus just gave a quick look at Kira and nodded her head. She saw Kira sigh and gave him an apologetic smile before he turned and left the area.

"Now just say it because I'm in a rather big hurry and want to get home," Lacus said ushering it along.

'Of course she'd do the obvious,' James thought feeling a headache coming along. Nothing was quite going as he had planned. He had everything worked out but they had all been mixed up by so many factors.

Meanwhile Kira was waiting impatiently just out of earshot of their conversation. He watched but couldn't quite make out what they were saying even with his superior senses.

"Anyone can see what he is trying to do," he growled while tapping his foot quickly on the ground.

Kira was about ready to rush over there and kick James's ass when he saw him reach his hand up and cup Lacus's cheek.

'Whose wife does he think he's touching?!' Kira thought angrily before trying to calm himself down with the fact that no one actually knew this little fact and also from the fact that Lacus turned away from it.

About a minute later Lacus came walking back over to Kira and he was quick to start asking question. "What did he want?! You didn't accept did you?!" he asked quickly because he was worried about what that man said to Lacus.

"Sorry but I accepted," Lacus said looking rather guilty.

Kira was absolutely stunned. He couldn't believe what he was hearing from Lacus.

"Sorry. But this is of importance to me as well. Please just trust me on this. I will explain everything to you afterwards," Lacus begged to the steaming Kira.

James hadn't quite told her what he wanted obviously trying to have dinner with her above all else but Lacus had a good guess what was going on.

Kira was still not pleased at all. "Whatever," he growled angrily turning his head away so he wasn't looking at her.

He learned some things about Lacus when they married and also something about himself.

Before he met James he had never felt the kind of jealousy that he was feeling right then. He didn't want anyone to get near his Lacus.

"Oh come on, you know I won't do anything," Lacus said though she could understand why he was upset.

It was the same kind of feeling she always felt when people made mention of Fllay. It sometimes made her question whether she was the only one in his heart since Fllay was such a big part of his life.

"Of course I know that. I just hate the fact that he's obviously trying to take my girl," Kira said possessively and saw Lacus blush at the fact that he had called her his.

"Be a good girl and I will give you a present," he suddenly said less sullen and more teasing.

"Mm, that sounds good," Lacus said trying to lean in to kiss him since she was sure everyone left. However Kira suddenly turned her around quickly and started to lightly push her.

"Kira?" she asked only to see 2 people walk around the corner the next second. "How do you always know they're coming?" she question to which he only shrugged his shoulders.

When the people were out of sight, Lacus then felt Kira reach down and grab a hold of her hand. She smiled and tightened her grip on his hand as well. "ANY gift?" she then said with a big smile on her face.

"I'd say yes to that but I also know what you want and it can't be done right now," Kira responded making Lacus pout which he felt just looked too adorable when she did it. "Sooner or later," he said quietly as they walked out of the now deserted building.

* * *

Lunamaria Hawke rushed through the halls of the hospital. She rushed there as soon as the ship got into port after the attack.

Shinn had been rushed back to the PLANTs ahead of the rest of them since of all of them he was in the worst shape and needed more medical treatment as soon as was possible.

Lunamaria came to a screeching halt at his door and took a deep breath before opening the door and walking into the room.

Shinn was just lying there on the bed with all kinds of gadgets attached to him. It looked like all the surgery had gone well but he didn't look like he was awake yet.

Lunamaria had never felt as worried as she was right then as she sat down in the seat next to the bed of her comatose fiancé.

"Why did it have to happen now of all times?" she asked looking at his sleeping face which looked to be in pain both mentally and physically.

"Sis," a familiar voice said quietly from the door which shocked her.

Luna turned and found her sister Meyrin standing at the door looking at her with worry. "Meyrin," she mumbled while wiping some tears from her eyes.

"Lacus called me and told me about what happened. I came over as soon as I could and have been looking after him till you got here. How are you doing?" she asked as the two sisters embraced one another.

"How do you think I'm doing?" Luna sarcastically said pointing towards her boyfriend. "How the heck does one of the best pilots in ZAFT get put in a state like this?!" she asked venting her frustration that she had been bottling up.

"Shinn's strong. I'm sure that he will pull out of it," Meyrin said as she took a seat in a chair that was close to her sister's.

"What have the doctors said concerning his current condition?" Luna asked hoping to not hear the worst.

"They said that while the surgery was successful that he was in a dangerous area right now and that only time will tell if he will recover," Meyrin responded quietly as she watched the anguished look on her sister's face.

Luna looked at Shinn. She noticed that while he wasn't awake his face was scrunched up with a look of deep concentration and pain. "He looks like he's having a nightmare. Probably reliving what happened," she said with worry.

*Inside Shinn's Dream*

Sweat poured down Shinn's face as he looked around frantically for what was attacking them.

Before he even realized it the thing was right behind him. "What?!" he yelled as he hit the throttle but it was too late to avoid the attack.

The beam saber of the mobile suit swung down. While it missed the main body it complete sheared off the right leg of the Destiny.

"Damn it! How could I not have noticed it when it was behind me?!" Shinn yelled in frustration as he tried to rebalance the Destiny to get in a counter.

Shinn was quick to counter as he faced the weird suit. "Gotcha!" Shinn screamed as he retaliated with his own sword while his wings blazed with light while the enemy mobile suit was left unguarded.

However, to his surprise the mobile suit simply vanished right as the sword was about to make a hit.

"What?!" Shinn yelled in surprise as his sword moved straight through without hitting anything.

Shinn took a deep breath to try and analyze the situation as he kept his gundam on the move to avoid any more surprise attacks.

"Mirage Colloid?" he question before shaking his head. "With how close my sword was, even if he did put up a mirage colloid I still would've cut straight through him," he growled in frustration.

"There you are!" Shinn yelled noticing the mobile suit just as it dropped its invisibility to attack him.

He charged forward with his sword and swung full strength at the machine. Much to his surprise the blade once again went straight through the mobile suit which then went straight through him.

Right as the mobile came to a stop behind him, it turned around and sliced one of the wings on the destiny in half.

"What?!" Shinn screamed as he was rocked around the cockpit from the force.

The machine disappeared again while Shinn was shaken up but appeared almost immediately in front of Shinn right before it sliced a hole in the front of the cockpit.

Sparks flew around the cockpit of the Destiny as a few of the consoles blew up right in Shinn's face. Fragments of the console plunged into Shinn's skin as he screamed in pain.

"Damn… it!" Shinn screamed while pulling a rather large piece out of his abdomen. His breathing labored, clutching his wounded side, Shinn tried to get a bearing of what was going on outside.

Unfortunately as soon as he looked at the monitor most of the screens went dead. "Bastard, he destroyed the cameras!" he growled as his vision blurred as his suit continued to be hit more and more from the outside.

After what felt like hours of the torture that the enemy mobile suit continued to put him through, things became eerily quiet. He groaned weakly as he looked out his right eye, his left eye having been hurt by debris, through the large hole in the cockpit.

His vision was blurry by then but he could just make out the figure of the mobile suit as it finally dropped its stealth.

The machine looked like a ghost in the darkness of space. It was pure white with no other colors on its armor.

The machine just looked into his direction for a few moments before it turned and flew off in a direction opposite Shinn and the Minerva

"Bastard… you had no… intention… of killing me… did you?" he managed to gasp out at the retreating mobile suit.

And then it was over. Shinn was unable to move and the Minerva wasn't in any shape to be able to send out someone to help him.

'I wonder how long it will be till my airs runs out,' he thought as he just drifted there staring at the endless vastness of space.

Using the last of his strength. Shinn reached towards one of the few remaining consoles before pressing a button to launch a distress beacon before he fell unconscious.

*End Dream*

Meyrin had long since left and Luna was just sitting by the bed. She could tell by the look on his face that Shinn was still having the nightmares that had been plaguing him ever since he was first brought to the hospital.

Luna was suddenly surprised when she started to hear the heart monitor start to beep faster and faster. "Shinn?" Luna silently asked wondering if he was waking up which surprised her since the doctors were saying that it could be a while before he'd wake up.

It happened so suddenly that Luna was sent flying backwards in shock.

Shinn's eyes suddenly opened and before she could react he started thrashing violently around him. "Shinn?!" Luna screamed in terror over what had come over her fiancé.

Luna quickly got to her feet and ran to Shinn's side and held on tight hoping that it would calm him but it seemed to do nothing and he fought tooth and nail like the enemy he had faced was still in front of him. "Stop Shinn!" she screamed over all the noise that he was making.

It wasn't too long after that that the doctors came running into the room. The head doctor ran over to the side of Shinn's bed and started looking over the violently thrashing Shinn but was unable to do anything due to Shinn's actions.

"Nurse!" he screamed as a woman came running over carrying a syringe.

After much fighting and failures, the doctor plunged the needle into Shinn's skin and released what was in the syringe.

It was a few moments before it took effect. Shinn's thrashing became less and less until it stopped completely and Shinn fell back into slumber.

Luna could only watch and feel horrified over what Shinn must have gone through to act like that.

She could only watch as the doctor performed tests on Shinn and mention things to the nurse who took notes.

She couldn't hear a word that they were saying though since her head was too full of thoughts of her own. 'Shinn, what happened to you?' she contemplated in her head.

* * *

Lacus just quietly stared out the car window as they went home.

"Hey Kira…" Lacus spoke up in a soft and weak sounding voice. "A war isn't going to start again is it?" she asked never taking her eyes off the passing scenery.

"It's won't!" Kira responded sternly. "We gave up a lot by when we agreed for you to take that position. We have too much at stake right now to let there be another war," he said though much softer and an expression of worry on his face.

The car pulled in front of their home, which happened to be Lacus's old mansion.

Andrew Waltfeld stepped out of the drivers set as Kira and Lacus stepped out of the back seat.

Lacus didn't say a word as she quickly rushed into the house leaving the two men behind.

"I got word from the hospital. Shinn Asuka's condition has stabilized and they say he should wake up soon and make a full recovery," Andy spoke to Kira as the two walked towards the door.

"That's good to hear. Shinn is a fighter. Something like this wouldn't be able to take it down. Has terminal found out anything about the incident?" Kira asked hoping that the news wouldn't be too severe.

"Nothing much yet. We analyzed some of the data files from the Destiny but only found out a little about who attacked them," Andy started since he had been in contact with Terminal since the moment that the news came out.

"It was definitely a mobile suit that attacked the Minerva and the Destiny but it was… odd," Andy said trying to find the best way to describe it.

"Odd? How so?" Kira asked confused since if it was a mobile suit it shouldn't be too strange.

"The mobile suit was almost like a ghost. It always kept vanishing from sight between attacks," Andy started to explain but this confused Kira.

"Isn't that just mirage colloid?" he asked since it seemed obvious.

"We thought that at first as well but that isn't the odd part. The mobile suit wasn't able to be cut but Shinn's sword even when he actually did. Videos we got showed that the sword just kept going straight through the machine without leaving a scratch only for it to turn around a moment later and damage the Destiny," Andy spoke with a bit of sweat running down the side of his head.

Kira stopped walking and his eyes widened at this revelation. "That's not possible? If it was an illusion I could understand that but an illusion can't do any damage at all," he said working his brain as hard as he could to figure out what it was but he couldn't find anything.

"We realize that. However unless we see more of the mobile suit I doubt that we will be able to make any accurate conclusions on it," Andy grimly spoke as they entered the front doors of the mansion.

"Do everything that you can. Find out where it's from. We need to stop this before it becomes a problem," Kira responded while grinding his teeth in worry.

"Understood. After all," Andy started while pointing to an opening right as Lacus walked back into the room with probably one of the brightest smiles the two of them had ever seen.

It had been only a month since Lacus had taken on the position of councilwoman of the PLANTs. But things were getting tense between the EA and ZAFT for the months prior to them and that worried Kira and Lacus.

They didn't necessarily desire to be placed in charge but felt increasingly worried especially after a small attack by a remnant group of Blue Cosmos.

It was after that attack that the 2 of them decided to step up and take charge hoping to end things before they spun out of control again.

Their reason was quite simple since in Lacus's arms that was a small bundle that let out a few cries here and there.

It was a baby girl who was only about 6 months old. She had tufts of brown hair and the same violet eyes as Kira. Her name was Kairi Yamato.

"I'm a father now and I don't want our child to be raised in a world where war is still a constant threat," Kira said looking proudly at his wife and daughter in an almost picturesque scene.


End file.
